Buoyant Taylor is surfing crest of a wave for Celts
TGreg has started really well again but he wants to improve
HERE comes a point when the effusive praise lavished on a player elevates him from the status of unsung hero. If Greg Taylor hadn’t already reached that stage last season in a Celtic jersey then his contribution in Dingwall on Saturday assuredly saw him cross the threshold.
On a day in which Jota’s trio of assists for Kyogo Furuhashi, Moritz Jenz and Liel Abada got Ange Postecoglou’s side out of an awkward spot against Ross County, the Scot’s role in the victory was still conspicuous.
Either side of facilitating the short corner which allowed Jota to cross for Jenz’s telling header, the tackles Taylor snapped into in advanced areas of the pitch were the cornerstones of the moves which brought his side’s first and third goals of the day.
If the champagne belonged to Jota and the headlines were all for the goalscoring German debutant, Taylor’s name was also on the lips of those supporters who made the long journey north — for all the right reasons. And not for the first time.
The perceptions surrounding the 24-year-old have changed significantly over the course of his three years at the club.
Saddled with the impossible task of replacing Kieran Tierney when he arrived from Kilmarnock in 2019, Taylor, it’s fair to say, did not excel in the 48 games he made across his first two seasons.
The arrival of Ange Postecoglou a year ago was sink-or-swim time. Having understandably taken some time to adjust to the demands of a manager with a liking for playing inverted full-backs, he isn’t just bobbing along nicely any more. He’s now on the crest of a wave.
‘Greg is going really well this season but he was also going really well last season, too,’ said Postecoglou.
‘He started the season okay last year and then he got that shoulder injury. He had to fight his way back after that but he had a real good run-in towards the end of the season.
‘He has started really well again but he wants to get better. That’s the important thing — he wants to improve.
‘Greg is still a young man and I am pleased that he is continuing to develop his game. But I also think there are more levels to come from him.
‘The way we play with our full-backs is a little bit different and Greg has adapted really well to it. He was really strong for us last season and that has continued in the first few games.’
So much so that Alexandro Bernabei is still awaiting his first taste of competitive action after two games. Signed from Argentinian side Lanus for £3.75million in the summer, no one doubts the South American’s turn will come soon enough.
But although the likelihood of another 50-plus game season means Postecoglou is compelled to rotate his squad, as things stand, Taylor has earned the right to be selected at left-back until circumstances dictate otherwise.
The Scot may not have needed a big-money signing to arrive at the club in order to give him some extra impetus but Bernabei’s presence at Lennoxtown is not doing him any harm.
‘People will say I have brought in competition for Greg in Alexandro,’ said the manager. ‘But
I haven’t brought in competition. I have brought in a player who can hopefully allow Greg to be the best player he can be.
‘You know, I look at last year and Greg was the only real left-back we had at the club.
‘We were playing Josip Juranovic at left-back at times because of that.
‘There is always the risk that you overburden players in the full-back areas.
‘So, Bernabei coming in is really good for us as a group.
‘It gives us depth in a key area, in a really important position for us.
‘With the way we play, full-back is a real key area and I now have four players there that I have the utmost faith and confidence in.’ Postecoglou’s appreciation of what the aforementioned trio plus the right-sided Tony Ralston offer him on a weekly basis is sincere. An attacking left-back in his playing pomp with South Melbourne, he is acutely aware of the heightened demands he places on his players in his preferred system. ‘It’s the most overrated position on the field,’ he smiled. ‘That’s why I am trying to eliminate the full-back from the line-up with the way we play! ‘Greg is nothing like me. He is a much better player than I ever was. I was a frustrated left-winger and I am much happier seeing him play the way he is.
‘I wasn’t inverted. I just used to take off down the wing and leave my defensive duties.
‘The full-back positions are obviously quite unique in terms of how we play compared to other models.
‘It is just about making sure we provide all the players who play in those areas with clarity on the advice we give them.
‘All the full-backs at the club, even Bernabei, who has just come in, they have adapted to it very quickly.
‘I think that is because we are very clear for the reason that we want them to play that way.’